Category Archives: Newest Blogs (最新ブログ)

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 25, 2020 I tilled one of my fields and put in 4 rows for my onion seedlings. I’ll probably be transplanting later in the week. タマネギ植え替え準備 タマネギの苗植え替えのために畑を耕してから4つの筋を入れた。植え替えは週末近くと考えている。 ********** English novels by Billy Hammond published by AELS (AELS出版英語書籍リスト）   I. Majoh Gakuin and Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools Trilogy 1. Majoh Gakuin & Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools 2. Lost Witch (The second book) 3. Fate & Magic (The final book in the trilogy) II. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire Trilogy 1. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire 2. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Returns 3. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Challenges (The final book in the trilogy) III. Fantasy fiction set in Japan 1. 21st Century Ninja 2. Regressed 3. Japanese Woman IV. Fantasy fiction set outside of Japan 1. Dimension Jumpers ************

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 18, 2020 Several days ago a student asked me who my favorite Japanese actresses were. I was taken unawares by the question and was only able to respond with the names of two actresses who I’d seen the most recently (Mitsuki Takahata and Kanna Hashimoto). After giving it further thought, I came up with a list of my favorite Top Twenty. My top five choices would be: 1) Tamao Nakamura (81) 2) Yuki Matsushita (52) 3) Yasuko Sawaguchi (55) 4) Mitsuki Takahata (28) 5) Kanna Hashimoto （21） I also like Yui Aragaki, Mikako Tabe, Haru, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Satomi Ishihara, Michiko Hada, Tae Kimura, Ayumi Nakajo, Mone Kamishiraishi, Moka Kamishiraishi, Nana Eikura, Kyoko Fukada, Tao Tsuchiya, Fuka Koshiba and Noriko Eguchi. 好きな日本女優 先日、生徒に好きな日本女優が訊かれた。突然な質問だったので最も最近に観た2人（高畑充希と橋本環奈）でしか答えられなかった。後に考えて、好きなトップ20が思い出した。 トップ5は 1)中村玉緒 (81) 2) 松下由樹(52) 3) 沢口靖子 (55) 4) 高畑充希 (28) 5) […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 12, 2020 Unlike vegetables, weeds grow brilliantly without care or nurture. 草 野菜と異なって、草は何もしなくても見事に生える。 *********** English novels by Billy Hammond published by AELS (AELS出版英語書籍リスト）   I. Majoh Gakuin and Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools Trilogy 1. Majoh Gakuin & Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools 2. Lost Witch (The second book) 3. Fate & Magic (The final book in the trilogy) II. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire Trilogy 1. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire 2. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Returns 3. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire – Challenges (The final book in the trilogy) III. Fantasy fiction set in Japan 1. 21st Century Ninja 2. Regressed 3. Japanese Woman IV. Fantasy fiction set outside of Japan 1. Dimension Jumpers ************

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 2, 2020 PM Suga is planning to pressure the phone companies to reduce phone charges, which are comparatively higher in Japan as compared to those in other countries. People under forty would be surprised to learn that having a phone really used to cost a lot of money. When I first came to Japan in 1980, I was surprised to learn that I’d need at least 80,000 yen to get a telephone installed. The price for a “phone right” went down to 72,000 yen in 1985 and was dropped down to 36,000 yen in 2005. I was running a business during those years and recall monthly phone bills in the 100,000 – 200,000 yen range. When you think about that, today’s mobile phone prices are ridiculously low. 電話加入権 菅首相は電話会社に圧力をかけて料金を下げさせる方針だ。確かに日本の料金は他国よりも比較的に高い。 40歳以下の方は昔の値段が知らないので今のデータやスマホ料金は高いと思っている。1980年来日時に電話を設置するには8万円が必要だと分かった際、驚いた！電話加入権の値段が1985年に72,000円に下がったが、まだ高かった。その時代には会社の決算書にも『資産』として記入出来た。2005年にはそれが36,000円に値下がったが、まだそれでも高かった。私はその時代に会社を営んでいたで、月の10万～20万の電話代の覚えもある。 それらを考えると、現在の携帯電話購入や料金はとても安い！ *************** English novels […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) October 1, 2020 I made it a point to observe the drivers in the cars around me as I was driving to Sakai yesterday to see how many were wearing masks while driving alone. The result was an astounding one to two ratio or about a half of drivers all by themselves wearing masks. Likewise, I took note of the number of pedestrians wearing masks walking along the road on uncrowded sidewalks. The number seemed to be almost 100 percent. People no longer seem to be thinking about when mask wearing is really necessary… マスクの慣れ過ぎ？ 昨日堺への運転中に何人の運転手がマスクをしているかを知るたために周囲の車に注目した。何と半分くらいはマスクを着用していた！ 同時に混んでいない歩道に歩いている歩行者にも注目した。100パーセントに近い、殆どがマスク姿だった！ 最近、マスク着用の必要性について数多くの人は考えなくなったようだ… ******** English novels by Billy Hammond published by AELS (AELS出版英語書籍リスト）   I. Majoh Gakuin and Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools Trilogy 1. Majoh Gakuin & Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools 2. Lost Witch (The second […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) September 29, 2020 Japanese movies and TV shows seem to have always taken great pains not to show manufacturer’s brand names and a look at the labels used in props in Japanese dramas often is funny with dummy labels obviously done in haste pasted on beer cans and packages. The exceptions are when a manufacturer is a sponsor of the work, in which case the product gets brand overkill. Perhaps the most ugly examples are the odd decals covering the brand insignia of cars. The Toyota, Nissan and other marks are quite large in size, so hiding them makes the car look rather fake and places the film or show itself further away from reality. Movie and film makers are always fishing for sponsors for their works, but I wish they’d do it in ways […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) September 21, 2020 In classes that I’ve taken in biochemistry and physiology, the professors and the textbooks tend to describe fat storage in adult males as “apple” shaped and that in women as “pear” shaped. The technical terms are “android pattern storage” (men) and “gynecoid pattern storage” (women). After puberty, males tend to store fat in and on their abdomens and upper bodies, whereas women store it around their breasts, hips and thighs. These storage characteristics lead to the apple and pear shape analogies. Of course, there are exceptions and some women will store fat in an android pattern, so it isn’t iron-clad for either gender. Another interesting fact is that upper body fat deposition occurs more due to hypertrophy of the cells that are already there, whereas in the lower body, it’s due more […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) August 22, 2020 Showa Generation and Heatstroke Many people born in the Showa Era grew up in homes that had no air conditioning with electric fans at best. Even in Hawaii, most of the homes back then had no air conditioning. When I first came to Japan in the 1980s, the situation was pretty much the same. Some of the retail and service industries had air conditioning, but it was still a rarity in most homes. At the time, though, Japan’s population was still mainly made up of comparatively young people whose bodies were capable of a rather wider range of metabolic adaptations. In addition, the old-fashioned A/Cs were pretty much straightforward and mechanical, while lacking the current microcomputer abilities of the units we have today. Terms like “cooler-byo” (A/C illness) and comments like “I […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) August 20, 2020 The day before yesterday I was talking to a widow who spoke to her late husband enshrined in her Buddhist altar asking him if he’d like to have a cup of coffee. She brewed the coffee and set a cup in front of the altar and the votive light on the altar flickered. She took it as a sign of her deceased husband’s appreciation of his favorite drink. The phenomenon of electrical interference is quite common overseas; however, here in Japan it seems comparatively unusual. Moreover, foreign spirits seem to enjoy influencing electricity more than Japanese spirits and are known to turn electrical appliances like TVs on and off. Sometimes they even provide replacement images on TV. They also sometimes communicate by activating broken appliances like radios and clocks. 霊と電気 一昨日、未亡人と話していた時、お盆中に仏壇前に亡くなったご主人に「コーヒーを飲みましょうか」と言ってからコーヒーを出したと言った。お供えをすると、仏壇の電気がちかちかした。大好きなコーヒーが出て喜んだと解釈した。 外国では電気の干渉は霊がいる場合にはよくある現象だけど、日本ではその現象は比較的に少ないようだ。更に外国の霊は電気遊びが好きで、テレビのような電化製品をつけたり、消したりするケースが多い。テレビに画像を替える例も読んだことがある。場合によって壊れた電化製品も復活することもある。 […]

By Billy Hammond (Copyright AELS) July 30, 2020 The Tecumseh Prophecy The Shawnee chief Tecumseh made a prophecy about future American presidents in 1813. He prophesied that every 20th year American president would die and that the elections of each of these presidents would be followed by wars within seven years of their elections. Since then seven presidents elected during those years have died in office, while Reagan survived an assassination attempt. Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and G.W. Bush, Jr. did not die. テクムセー大統領予言 1813年にショーニー族のテクムセー首長は未来の米国大統領について予言した。20年毎に米大統領が任務中に死ぬと預言した。更に、それぞれの大統領の選挙の7年以内に戦争が起きるとも予言した。 それ以来、予言通り7人の米大統領が任務中に亡くなった*。トマス・ジェファーソン、ジェームズ・モンロー及びジョージ・ウオーカー・ブッシュだけが亡くならなかった。 *リンク先は英語の記事 ************** English novels by Billy Hammond published by AELS (AELS出版英語書籍リスト）   I. Majoh Gakuin and Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools Trilogy 1. Majoh Gakuin & Hikari Juku – Japanese Witch Schools 2. Lost Witch (The second book) 3. Fate & Magic (The final book in the trilogy) II. Brindle – Scryer Extraordinaire […]